“Lucia?”

The first moment she heard that name from his mouth, Vivian couldn’t help but freeze.

“…’If I don’t make it back alive, please go back and protect Vivian.’ That’s what she said.”

Anis slowly sheathed the golden holy sword in his hand, and in an instant, the golden stream of light that had caused such a heaven-shaking commotion vanished along with it.

And then, without any further nonsense, Anis turned to leave.

“Lucia said you were a different kind of demon—though I don’t really understand, I promised her, so I’ll save you this once. But the next time we meet, I will certainly subjugate you.”

As his words fell, Anis’s figure disappeared into the woods, leaving Vivian to ponder what he had just said.

“Lucia… Tsk, what in the world is going on with you?”

Vivian felt her mind was a complete mess right now.

Did Lucia foresee her own death?

Is that why she specifically instructed Anis to come back and protect her, Vivian?

But why… her identity was a Demon Lord.

“…Whatever. The most pressing matter now is to leave this place of conflict.”

Taking a deep breath, Vivian temporarily cast aside the messy thoughts in her mind.

One thing was certain now: Lucia was most likely truly dead.

And as Lucia’s prisoner, she was now clearly the target of all, and shady characters of every kind were probably after her.

Other than running away as fast as she could, it seemed the current Vivian had no other choice.

“Sigh, why is my life so miserable.”

Vivian sighed, then concealed her figure with mana and, relying on her intuition, picked a direction that felt inhabited and headed that way.

And while on the run, Vivian was also pondering her future and where she should go.

There were two paths before her now—one was to return to the Demon Clan’s territory and continue being the Demon Lord of Evernight, and the second was to find a place to live in seclusion.

Honestly, given her status, returning to the Demon Clan was the correct choice, but now… there was a child in her belly.

Thinking of this, her feelings were inevitably a complex mix, and she couldn’t help but reach out and touch her still-flat abdomen.

Alright, in truth, while imprisoned by Lucia in the castle, Vivian was already the strongest Hero’s forbidden prize, and also her “wife.”

“Demon Lord of Evernight, Vivian, you shall become my wife, and thereby fulfill your duty and atone for your sins.”

“Huh?”

On the first day she was escorted into the castle, sitting on the bed and watching the approaching Lucia, Vivian was completely dumbfounded.

And then, with her mana sealed, she, who had absolutely no power to resist, was pushed down onto the bed by Lucia.

At that time, Vivian could have never imagined it.

It was one thing to have inexplicably transmigrated into a Demon Lord, and another to be defeated without any chance of winning by the strongest Hero who came knocking just a week later, but now she was supposed to become her opponent’s wife?

And now you’re telling her she’s pregnant on top of all that?

‘No way, can women really get other women pregnant?’

A day after her escape, Vivian sat on a thick branch of a large tree, sighing as she clutched her abdomen.

‘I was a perfectly fine guy, how did I end up in this situation?’

Bai An felt utterly exhausted.

At first, he thought becoming a beautiful Demon Lord girl was pretty great.

But then, in an instant, she was defeated and became a prisoner.

In the past month, he had even mentally prepared himself, planning to latch onto the strongest Hero Lucia’s thigh, content to be a decorative prize and just get by.

That would have been fine.

But now, her great backer was gone, and she was inexplicably pregnant…

And what’s more…

‘Does this count as me becoming a widow now? Hm?’

For a moment, the human individual once known as Bai An was filled with despair.

Yes, in a sense, the current Bai An, or rather, Vivian, the Demon Lord of Evernight, probably really did count as a widow.

A pregnant widow, at that.

Although Lucia had made her her wife, there was no formal wedding, and registering the marriage or anything of the sort was even more out of the question.

Originally, Vivian didn’t plan to take it seriously, but now she was carrying the other woman’s child?

The most crucial part was that she didn’t even know how the child came to be!

…She really wanted to go home.

“Sigh.”

Vivian sighed, and her thoughts inevitably turned back to her current situation.

This child in her womb was, for her right now, undoubtedly a dead weight, a burden.

It wasn’t just a physical burden, but an unstable time bomb.

The abdominal pain from the pregnancy could severely affect her movements at critical moments!

Vivian even felt that if it hadn’t been for the pregnancy-induced spasms in her abdomen earlier, she would have, in all likelihood, been able to escape from Carol.

An elf’s body could in no way compare to that of a Demon Lord of the Demon Clan.

‘…Should I get rid of it?’

Abruptly, such a thought suddenly sprang into Vivian’s mind.

Vivian’s mana hadn’t fully recovered yet; it would still take some time to return to her previous peak.

And now, with a child added to the mix, not only had her mana recovery slowed, but her movements were also restricted.

Most importantly, this was the bloodline of Lucia.

The occasional spasms and pain were already this debilitating for Vivian.

As time went on, it was possible Vivian would lose her ability to fight altogether.

This was too dangerous.

In an instant, Vivian’s thoughts slid rapidly into the abyss.

Better a short pain than a long one.

She was a Demon Lord, not here to give birth.

Not to mention, she was like a clay bodhisattva crossing a river—unable to even save herself.

How could she possibly go on while pregnant with a child?

The thought of aborting the child in her womb spread and multiplied like cancer cells.

She even began to gather mana in her hand, preparing to strike her own abdomen—

“…No!”

Just as Vivian’s hand slowly reached for her abdomen, she suddenly awoke as if from a dream.

“What am I thinking… How could I think that!”

Taking a deep breath, Vivian patted her cheeks, trying to make her thoughts more normal, more clear.

Indeed, from the perspective of personal gain, deciding to get rid of the child now was probably the right choice—better a short pain than a long one.

Moreover, Bai An, who was originally male, had never imagined he would get pregnant.

But in the long run, this was absolutely out of the question.

Because this was the child of the strongest Hero, Lucia, and this was something never mentioned in the original game world.

This world would certainly not follow the original script anymore.

Her ultimate backer, Lucia, had died suddenly for unknown reasons, and from now on, she would have to rely on herself to survive in this world.

But, Vivian was not considered the strongest Demon Lord.